Featured Commentary category, Page 40
Rep. Mandy Steele: Working to plug more dangerous orphan wells
In 1859, the first oil well was drilled in Titusville. That action by Edwin Drake sparked what has become the modern global petroleum industry. Since then, oil and gas wells have proliferated throughout Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, so too has the number of abandoned and orphaned wells. The Department of Environmental Protection...
Cal Thomas: What the ‘New Nixon’ could teach Donald Trump
Fifty-six years ago in August 1968, Richard Nixon achieved what The New York Times called “the greatest reversal of fortune in American political history.” Times columnist James Reston went further, calling it “the greatest comeback since Lazarus.” This from a newspaper, along with The Washington Post, that hated Nixon, as...
Bill Miller: Federal response to illegal gambling needed
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), paving the way for legal sports betting across the country. Six years later, 38 states and Washington, D.C., now have legal wagering markets, working together with legal gaming operators,...
Sheldon H. Jacobson and Dr. Janet A. Jokela: What should we fear with AI in medicine?
Will the threats associated with artificial intelligence be as bad as some fear? Or will AI be relatively benign? Could the answer be somewhere in between? Perspectives on AI abound. Whether it be in medicine, security or education, new applications in search of an AI advantage continue to grow. This...
Dale R. Giovengo: Why Trump needs Haley as VP
We know the history of President Abraham Lincoln choosing political rivals to serve in critical positions in his Cabinet and administration. He chose William H. Seward as secretary of state, Salmon P. Chase as secretary of the treasury and Edward Bates as attorney general, all politicians who opposed him to...
Elizabeth Veronica Weaver: Biological reasons for gender dysphoria
With all the misinformation spread about “trans” people and about “only two sexes,” the scientific evidence for individuals born with both male and female characteristics has not been part of the national conversation. These individuals, currently referred to as “intersex,” are those who, due to genetic variations, have both male...
Peter Jensen: Why the Alito flag flap matters — even if he blames his wife
When I entered the world of professional journalism more than four decades ago, I quickly discovered that certain colleagues felt so strongly about the mere appearance of political bias that they abstained from voting. This is not true of most reporters, but you can still find some who choose not...
Point: A call for civil rights — end colonialism in Puerto Rico
For 107 years, Puerto Ricans have lived as second-class U.S. citizens. Just last month, the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights’ Puerto Rico Advisory Committee released a memorandum highlighting the subjugation of Puerto Rico and revealing continuing disparities faced by its 3.2 million U.S. citizens. The memo exposed a sad yet...
Counterpoint: Puerto Rico as 51st state would pile on the debt for US, tip balance of power
Every so often, whether Puerto Rico should be granted statehood becomes a hot topic, especially inside D.C.’s Beltway. Historically, the people of Puerto Rico have generally voted against becoming the 51st state. However, that has not stopped many from advocating for Puerto Rican statehood, which would assuredly result in two...
Michael Puskaric: Regional partnering key to ending opioid crisis
The opioid epidemic has left a trail of devastation across the United States, claiming countless lives and tearing apart communities. In 2022 alone more than 110,000 Americans succumbed to a drug overdose with opioids accounting for nearly 70% of those deaths. Meanwhile, fentanyl and counterfeit pills continue to flood America...
Jennifer Huddleston: AI and privacy rules meant for Big Tech could hurt small businesses most
As lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. consider policy born of their Big Tech concerns such as data privacy and artificial intelligence, they should carefully consider how such changes could end up trampling the small and midsize businesses that drive innovation and competition. While policymakers may have Google and Facebook...
Cal Thomas: 2 contrasting congressional days
Last Friday in Washington, there was evidence of why only 16% of the public approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a Gallup poll. During a House Oversight Committee hearing on whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a...
Jen Mizell: UPMC must show moral leadership
I started my career as a nurse at UPMC almost two decades ago because I wanted to make a real difference in people’s lives. That’s what has kept me going all these years, especially through the trauma of the pandemic. But as UPMC has consolidated more and more power, staffing...
Rob Richie: Ranked-choice voting for presidential elections?
Imagine it’s election night 2024. A few close swing states will decide the presidency — and test the health of our democracy. In that scenario, we can be certain of two facts: Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump will win a majority of the vote, and votes for independent and...
Danny Tyree: Is it nice to fool Mother Nature?
I was hunkered down paying rapt attention to the weather report on May 8 when an EF-3 tornado rampaged through a neighboring county. Understandably, I was intrigued by a May 11 New York Post article about a technological push to manipulate the weather. Eleven states already maintain “old school” programs...
J. Peder Zane: The rise of gut politics
A very liberal friend recounted his daughter’s pushback after he gently questioned the tactics of anti-Israeli protestors on campus. “She didn’t disagree with me,” he said, “but said that my concerns were unhelpful because they undermined efforts to stop the war.” I just nodded my head; it was, after all,...
Alexandria Wilson-McDonald: Attempted assassination of Slovak prime minister follows country’s slide into political polarization
The assassination attempt against Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has been condemned widely by world leaders as an attack on democracy. In Slovakia, the violent act similarly saw a unified response from the country’s deeply divided political leaders. But how long this lasts is uncertain. Just as outgoing Slovakian president...
Rogelio Sáenz and Selene M. Gomez: Some states’ populations are like the U.S. overall — including 5 key states in the ’24 presidential election
Five of the seven states widely expected to be political battlegrounds in the 2024 presidential election have populations very much like that of the U.S. overall, in a range of demographic and socioeconomic measures. For decades, the presidential selection season has begun with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire...
Daniel DePetris: Vladimir Putin has much to celebrate. But not the Russian people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the man who plunged Russia into a war that has proved far costlier than he anticipated, is riding high at the moment. Last week, Putin formally took office for a fifth term after a presidential election that the United States, Europe and international monitors widely regarded...
Brooke D. Anderson: Put women in the rooms where it happens
Before I became the president of Pivotal Ventures, I spent most of my career in national security. In my roles at the United Nations, the White House and the State Department, I had the chance to work on big, audacious challenges with teams I deeply respected and admired. But as...
Rep. Emily Kinkead: Justice, compassion and Ezra Bozeman
Lady Justice may be blind, but she is not heartless. When I was in law school, I read a passage in my Criminal Procedure textbook that has defined my understanding of the practice of law in a criminal setting. What it said was that the role of a prosecutor is...
Cal Thomas: Warren Buffet is wrong on taxes
Many people have made money by following the advice of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. His recommendations about which stocks to buy, which to sell and where to invest (or not) have earned him the “Oracle of Omaha” title. I prefer a modern cultural version: “the Taylor Swift of Capitalism.”...
Elizabeth Massa Hoiem: Talk to children — addiction info provides emergency first aid
Recent government support to aid families impacted by substance use is heartening. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced $28 million in grants to assist pregnant people and families, while Oregon lawmakers approved $27 million to fund education and drug prevention programs. But government funds are slow to...
Raymond Offenheiser: Here’s what’s going wrong with Gaza relief
Amid persistent calls from the United States and other countries that Israel needs to make it easier for life-saving aid to reach Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military closed two of the region’s few operating border crossings in Rafah, a southern Gazan city, on May 7. Responding to...
Trudy Rubin: The biggest story last week was not Stormy Daniels or campus protests
While TV news was glued last week to Stormy Daniels’ tell-all testimony and pro-Palestinian demonstrations, scant attention was paid to Vladimir Putin’s tsar-like coronation for a fifth term. Nor to his bellicose parade of Russia’s nuclear-capable missiles through Red Square last Thursday, the annual Victory Day commemoration of World War...
